The Lost Teigu
by Kalameet the Black Dragon
Summary: Tatsumi left together with his two friends to find a way to save his village. But before they left their home, the chief gave him two items, the first being a small figurine, while th other was a sword but he could feel that it wasn't a normal weapon, no it was different but what was it? Rated M only to be sure.
1. Chapter 1

**Ma che cazzo…ok, ok, I know that I shouldn't do this, since I already have three other fanfictions to continue. Only, I recently finished to read Akame ga Kill and I also have started to play to a certain game on which I'm spending a lot of time and that inspired me for this story, so please be patient, I'm crazy and stupid as well, so…ok. That aside I know that no one will read this description and jump directly to the story, not that I can criticize them, I do the same almost every time, as for those that finished to read my rant…you really did it…what? So good reading.**

 **-Different Beginning, Different Weapon-**

"Aaaargh…I lost them." A young man of average height with medium length brown hair and green eyes said while letting his arms fall on his side and his head looked down while his eyes were closed and had an aura of depression around him. He was wearing a white high collar jacket over a tan sweater vest, a pair of black pants, brown gloves and combat boots.

''sigh'…at least I hope they made it…' He thought, scratching the back of his head, before a smile made its way on his lips, but soon turned into a wide grin that blasted away all his concerns and depression.

"Of course they did it, after all the three of us survived to much worse." He declared out loud. Before the depression of before returned once again and made him remember one thing: he was alone, he was lost and didn't know how far was his destination.

"If only Sayo was here." He muttered, before his emotion turned from depression to anger, which wasn't directed toward his just mentioned companion, but toward the other. He then closed his eyes and a tick mark appeared on his forehead, then he clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, before muttering something like: 'damn you Iyeasu…'. Then memories of what happened not long ago returned and increased his anger, still it wasn't the kind of anger that someone would direct to one that you really hate, it was the anger that you direct toward one of your friend.

"AAAAAHHH EARTH…EARTH DRAGON!" Someone suddenly yelled, making the young man snap out of his thoughts, immediately he looked around himself and saw the source of the cry of help. Two men near an overturned car were running away from the reason of the actual condition of their vehicle, which was an enormous beast that looked like a dragon with leather skin and with the head that resembled that of a centipede. Immediately a smirk appeared on the face of the young man and unsheathed his sword.

"Seems like I will be able to kill two birds with one stone." He said before dashing toward the beast, surprising both men and causing the dragon to switch his attention from his previous preys to the new arrived.

"An earth dragon huh…a good opponent." He declared and his smirk became even wider and more evident, this clearly irritating the dragon who seemed not to like to be underestimated. Immediately it let out a powerful roar, showing his emotional state and then lunched its claw toward the brown haired boy and just as it did, he felt an itching coming from his back, to be more precise from the bundle he was bringing on his back. Still he quickly dismissed it and focused again on the opponent he was fighting against. He then dodged the attack, before readying his sword and charging directly at the danger beast and before it could react, he was right in front of it.

"It's over." He declared, before unleashing a series of quick slashes that put an end to the dragon's life and caused a large portion of blood to came out from the area in which he inflicted the fatal hit. As soon as the two men saw the outcome, their expression of fear were subsided with amazement, never they would have thought that a boy such as the one standing a few meters away from them, would be able to kill a danger beast such as an earth dragon especially without the help of a teigu.

"THAT WAS AMAZING YOUNG BOY!"

"YOU DEFEATED THAT DANGER BEAST SINGLE HANDEDLY!"

The two men exclaimed in amazement while running toward said boy, who smirked again, feeling overjoyed that those people had actually recognised his strength, moreover, he believed that by doing so he would one step closer to accomplishing his goal.

"Well, obviously. For me something like that is a piece of cake. My name is Tatsumi by the way and it is the name of the man that will become famous in the capital…" He started, his smile only widening and a small blush appearing on his cheeks. Still, as soon as he mentioned the capital, both men's expressions darkened and something inside them snapped, as if they had been in another world up till now and they had just remembered something they would most likely forget.

"So you want to make it big in the capital?" One of the duo asked with calm and somewhat tense voice.

"Yes. Get successful in the capital. That's my dream." He proudly declared out loud and empathized his point by almost yelling his words. Still, he suddenly stopped himself when he looked at the people he had just saved, only to notice their dead serious expression and the knowing look they exchanged.

"What?" He asked, wanting to know the reason why they reacted so to his words.

"The imperial capital isn't the place you think is. Sure it's lively, but there are monsters worse than this earth dragon." One of the duo said with dead serious tone, but this didn't faze the young boy, who instead didn't understand what the man meant.

"What do you mean? Did danger beast started to appear in the capital?" He asked naively, clearly not understanding the meaning behind that man's word, his mind still young and naïve.

"They are people, but their hearts are that of monsters. The capital is full of people like that…" The man said, using the same voice as before and the same could be said for his expression, still this didn't seem to brother Tatsumi.

"Thank you for your advice but I can't turn back now. I will…we will make money at the capital and save our village." He said as he sheathed his sword back in its sheath attached to the belt on his waist before starting to walk away toward his destination. Still, once he was sure to be alone he let out a sigh and glanced around one last time, clearly not desiring to be seen by other people. Still, he was in the middle of a street that lead to the capital! But he seemed not to notice it and took off the bundle he had on his back and looked at it for a good minute. When he and his two friends were about to leave the village, their chief gave him two items that he had treasured with all himself: the first one begins a small figure given to their village by a religious movement called: 'The path of peace', this one begin a sign of good luck and protection, or so the old man said. Still, the second one was much different and it was the bundle he was bringing, at first Iyasu tried to pick it but for some reason it seemed like he had been rejected and let the items fall, then it was the turn of Tatsumi to take it and surprisingly, he didn't felt anything, so he put it on his back, where he normally kept his sword and the three of them headed for the capital. However, ever since they received it, none of them tried to free it from its 'cocoon' of leather straps and now that he remembered, the chief never said what it was or why he gave it to them, the only explanation he gave them was because he thought it was the right thing to do. But after the sensation he had felt during the fight before, the curiosity was devouring him and so he took off the straps that hid the item to his eyes, but he made sure not to break any of them.

Once he had finished his work, he remained speechless. Never in his life he had seen such item let alone a sword. It wasn't extremely long just a little longer than the usual one he wielded, still it was lighter when it came to its weight. The blade was dived in two from the tip to half of the blade and black in colour on its edges, while the inner part was covered in what he could assume were scales light blue in colour. The handle then was dark in colour and made of some metal he didn't recognise, it also had a strange decoration shaped like a rhombus right before the blade connected with the handle, this one ending with a tip shaped like a teeth of a shark or some other kind of danger beast. He remained flabbergasted by the how the weapon looked, it was truly beautiful and didn't seem to be less effective than his normal sword. Still one question remained: how did his village was able to get such masterpiece of work and why did the chief gave it to them? Numerous questions started to appear in his head and he was starting to have a headache, so he put them on second place and focused again on finding his two friend then, they would have found the answers to his and their questions, together, yes together.

Rewinding the sword in the same leather straps that hid it just a few minutes ago, he put the items on his back again and headed again toward the capital, his smile and optimist returning on the instant he started to walk again.

However, he didn't notice the lone figure that was observing him from behind a group of tree, who made sure not to enter in his field of view but making sure to have him in its. The figure then took one last glance at him before disappearing in the shadows but heading approximately in the same direction as Tatsumi: toward the capital.

Some hours later, the young boy had finally reached his destination. The imperial capital was right in front of him, yet, he still couldn't believe to what he was seeing and was only able to remain still, his eyes shining with excitement and his mouth still open, showing his current state. No matter, where he looked, every time he moved his gaze, he could only stare in amazement at the numerous people and the liveliness of that place, never in his life he had seen such things, but he couldn't say he wasn't expecting to see things such as these in the capital. Still, he couldn't help his reaction.

"Awesome…this is the capital!" He said with excitement and amazement.

"If I get successful here, I could even buy the entire village. I've got to find the barracks immediately" He called out while looking around himself with a sheepish smile and already imaging what he would be able to do with the money he would gain by working in the imperial army. After all, he was sure that with his skill, he would gain a good position in the army and with the money they would give him, he would save his village. His hope was high and as such was his ambition. Still, both of them were badly crushed once he arrived at the barracks and was literally kicked out moments later. The reason: apparently he would have had to start as a foot soldier, but he needed money fast and so he insisted that he was worth of begin a captain but in the end, he was rejected. So here he was, thinking about what he would have to do next, when the last thing he ever expected happened.

"Hey there…" Asked a voice from behind him and made him turn his head to see who the voice belonged to. The owner of the voice was a young woman with short blonde hair, golden eyes and that was wearing only a black tube top, pants, boots and a scarf around her neck. This leaving exposed practically all her top letting everyone notice her more than generous bosom and guess where the eyes of the young man with brown hair landed, exactly on that part.

'So this is the capital…' He thought with his eyes still locked on her chest.

"What's wrong?" The blonde asked, apparently not noticing the focused gaze of Tatsumi on her bosom, but it was more like she was accustomed to it, probably because that part of her body attracted much attention. Still, the young man seemed not to hear her words, his brain still elaborating the view in front of him and maybe the possibility.

"You must be one of those coming to the capital from the country seeking adventure, right?" She asked, but it was more than an affirmation, still, this sentence was finally able to snap Tatsumi back to reality and causing in him a reaction.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW!?" He suddenly yelled, not understanding how a complete unknown person had been able to understand such thing.

"If you live in the capital long enough, you can tell outsiders apart immediately." More like, he was giving that impression since the beginning, especially because of his nativity, something that wasn't allowed in that place if you want to survive.

"So I know a quick way to get commissioned." She suddenly said, causing every single cell of his brain to focus on her speech, to him this was the perfect chance to save his village, but to everyone that had enough brain to understand how people mind works, it was one of the cheapest attempt to rob a person of his belonging. Still he was too dense to understand it and took the bait.

"SERIOUSLY!?"

"You wanna know? Then treat one-san to a meal." She demanded with a smile and now, everyone with the slightest quantity of common sense would have had saw through her façade, but Tastumi wasn't such person. So after finding a local, the blonde proceeded to drink as much as she could and even after finishing three bottle of three different alcohols, she still was lucid enough, but put up a façade and pretended to be drunk.

"Yeah…Alcohol in the daytime hits the spot." She said with slightly flushed cheeks, only sing of the fact she had drunk.

"You're drinking without too much regard for me." He said, sign that finally started to work, only problem, it had started a bit late.

"Just drink, lad. Let's have some fun." She said dismissively letting out a breath that probably would be able to make everyone who had a nose pass out because of the alcohol's stench.

"Just tell me how can I get commissioned." He asked tiredly, planning to leave if this woman didn't help him soon.

"Oh, that's basically connections and cash." She said, catching again the young man's attention, his hears waiting for an explanation.

"Cash?"

"I've got a contact in the army. If you show him some money right away." Upon hearing this, Tatsumi got up from his seat and used one of his arm to grab something he was carrying with him in a bag together with other items. A moment later, he practically slapped a bag full of coin on the table, making the young woman's eyes wide in surprise and delight.

"Wow...definitely enough. You've got quite a bit." She called out while eyeing the bag. Despite her red checks caused by the alcohol it was clear she still was enough lucid.

"I was hunting risk species and getting rewards on the way here." He said calmly.

"Hmm…so you're strong…" She said and for a moment, a look of sadness appeared on her face but it was quickly replaced the casual look of before and before anyone could say anything, she took the bag with the money and started to head for the exit.

"This will get you to captain without dely." She said, while heading out of the local and now every normal person would stop her and pretend some kind of proof that verified what she was saying, even the barman there had understood what was happening, but instead Tatsumi didn't.

"Yeah! I'll leave it to you!" He encouraged and let her go and at the same time, someone there face palmed itself. But the sound didn't reach Tatsumi's hears, still he seemed not to notice it and this finally proved how dense he was.

"Well I think it will be okay with 4/5 of this." She whispered, probably talking about what would happen to that cash.

"I think you'll learn a lot from your meeting with me young lad. Kay, I'll go settle this so wait for me." She said turning one last time to look at the victim of her fraud and thinking about asking him about the bundle on his back, maybe it was something of value, but she dismissed such thought for two reason: first she had already took enough from him, maybe he would return to his home and then whatever he had there would help him; second, that bundle, or rather what it contained was releasing an aura that somehow frightened her, causing her instincts to yell of danger and to be on guard, she then looked at her belt before exiting from the door and heading toward her destination which was certainly not he barrack.

"I see, so connections are important…" He muttered more to himself than to anyone other. He was still enough stupid to believe to the words of that woman and he clearly hadn't understood how the world works and that's something he will pay for, not because he deserves, but because the world he lives that takes advantage of naïve people like him. And the outcome was that he had to wait for ten hours and still, he was there sitting at the same seat of before and still the woman that took his money hadn't shown up and he was starting to get tired.

"Sir, we're closing up soon." The barman said while cleaning one of the table and preparing to close the place.

"Oh, I'm waiting for someone." Tatsumi said with tired voice, sign of his current state.

"I was watching, but, you got your money taken from you." The same barman said, showing of having what the young man in front of him was missing: common sense.

"EEEEHH!" Upon hearing this, the young man couldn't believe to his words and was shocked to say.

"To think you'd go around believing people in the capital as it is now." He continued calmly, as if what had just happened was normal routine and considering what sort of place was that city, well, it was hard to believe it.

"TH…THAT'S FRAUD! I'LL SUE…" He started, showing, again his nativity.

"Not happening. In fact, it's your fault for getting fooled by a story like that." The barman stated, shocking even more the brown haired teen. So after paying, with the few money he had left, for all the drinks that woman had drunk, he exited from the local and started to walk for the streets of the capital, at night time…a true genius.

"God dammit…" He muttered, rage slowly building inside him, he couldn't believe that he had acted in such way and let himself be fooled by her.

"THOSE BOOBS…I MEAN WOMAAN! THIS WHAT SHE MEANT BY LEARN!?" Exactly.

"There's no one who'd lie like that in my countryside…shit." That explains quite a lot, still this doesn't mean why he is so dense. However, he was so focused on his own thoughts that he didn't notice the pair of figures that didn't seem willingly to help, instead, it would be correct to say the opposite. Still he gave them little attention and after a quick glance, he reduced them to a state in which they couldn't harm him anymore and the surprising thing was that this took him less than a minute.

"What's wrong with them? Each and every one of them in this city." He muttered to himself while continuing to walk. Then suddenly, he stopped and started at the silhouette that was the imperial palace and his mind started to space out again.

"I wonder how those guys are doing…have they already arrived in the capital?" He asked not expecting an answer, since he was alone. Nut still, decided to voice his own thoughts, just in the hope of receiving an answer, after all, the hope was one of the few things he had left. Still, he wouldn't let negative thoughts win over him and immediately his optimism returned.

"Well, whatever, I'm sleeping outside today. I can sleep anywhere I want." He said while preparing to sleep under the night sky and by using the street as his bed and soon he was asleep. However, again, it seemed like things weren't going to go as he had predicted. Shortly after he had begun his journey in the world of dreams, the sound of clogs was heard ring out near his figure and soon a small carriage arrived. Still, upon seeing the sleeping figure of Tatsumi it stopped. And the figure of a young lady became visible thanks to the light that lighten up the street. She had shoulder length blonde hair topped with fluffy light blue accessories, blue eyes and wearing a white long sleeved shirt, a light blue ribbon at the base of her neck and a pair of white boots. Also, above her shirt, she wore a sleeveless light blue dress with the addition of a black bodice and white frills.

"Does that person not have a place to stay? ...How unfortunate." She said while looking at the brown haired boy from her seat with a guard clad in uniform not too far from her figure that immediately looked at the young lady with a look of surprise but part of him already expected her to say what she said.

"Again, my lady!?" He said.

"I can't help it. That's my nature." She said while a second guard helped to come down from her seat before she walked toward the sleeping 'beauty' that was resting his back against a wall of stone. Slowly then he started to open his eyes, until he was awake and looked at the figure in front of him.

"Did you come from the country?" The young girl asked while inclining herself so that she could see his face better.

"Huh? Yeah…" He answered surprised. For him that day hadn't been one of the best, especially since he had been robbed of all the money he had gathered, and now he wasn't sure of what this one wanted but, this time he wouldn't let her fool him so easily.

"If you don't have a place to stay, do you want to come to my house?" She asked while smiling slightly.

It was then that Tatsumi's expression changed from a confused one to one that had clearly written on it: distrustful of all. One time to him was more than enough, now he had learned his lesson: not trusting people that you had just meet. 'Especially, if they're girl with big boobs.' He mentally added.

"I don't have any money." He answered, already imaging that the girl in front of him wanted to bring him to a place in which she could take all his money and then abandon him. Also he wanted to be left in peace so that he could sleep.

"You wouldn't be sleeping here if you did." She replied with the same cheerful tone of before.

"Lady Aria can't leave people like you alone."

"You should just accept your offer."

The two guards said with blank voice.

"What do you want to do?" The now named Aria asked, still not losing or changing her tone, she really was stubborn.

"Well…It's better than sleeping outside…" He answered, at this point he still wasn't completely convinced of what she was saying, but still he thought that he didn't have anything to lose in accepting her offer, especially if he could trade the hard stone of the street with what he imaged was a more comfortable bed with some blankets.

"Then it's settled." She said in victory, clearly happy for her success in persuading Tatsumi to come to her home, she really couldn't help her 'nature'.

It took only a few minutes for them to reach their destination and the reaction that the place caused to Tatsumi was to be considered as equal or even greater to the one he had that morning when he reached the capital. Sure he expected the city to be different form his village, but he didn't expect to find a place such as the house he had been invited to. The place itself was huge and it was more similar to a palace of some sort of king or queen, or so Tatsumi thought, it also had a large garden that completely surrounded it. Even the interior was in one word astonishing to him: no matter where he looked, everything in that place was luxurious like nothing he had seen before. The rugs, the furniture and everything else were of first quality and showed the wealth of that family. Also, even the manner in which everything was disposed showed the good taste of those people. Still, his attention quickly shifted from the decoration of house to the people that were its owner.

"Ahh, Aria brought someone in again." Said a man around sixty with short gray coloured moustache and hair of the same colour. He wore a light coloured pricey suit that Tatsumi was sure would be worth of all the money he had gathered during his travel to the capital and that he had been robbed off hours ago.

"What a habit. I wonder how many it's been now." A woman around forty or even younger continued, this one having long blonde hair and wearing a white silk dress.

These two, Tatsumi thought, must have been Aria's parents. He then looked around him and in particular his eyes fell on the figures pf two guards that stood firmly behind Aria's father and which eyes let Tatsumi know that they were strong, or at least, they were from his point of view and it was then that a question popped in his mind.

'I wonder if they can be nice to some unknown guys like me because they have people like them…' He thought still eying the pair of guards.

'…that aside, it seems in the capital there really are nice people like this.' He added, happy that at least the luck decided to help him, especially after what happened that morning.

"Thank you very much for bringing me in." Tatasumi said while giving a small bow, sign of his gratitude.

"It's ok, it's ok. Make yourself at home." Aria said with a smile and useless to say, Tatsumi didn't need to be told twice to accept such offer.

"If we help people out, the happiness will eventually come back to use." The mother said with a joking tone, clearly intending to laugh about the situation to rise the general mood.

"MOM. That's not the reason why I'm doing this." Aria scolded.

"Joking, joking." She replied.

"Excuse me…there's also something I'd like to ask…" The young man asked somehow embarrassed and scared by the fact that, despite giving him a place where he could sleep, he still was asking for something to them. But this was his chance and he couldn't let it slip. So, after looking again at their face, which showed their curiosity about what he was about to say, he told them about his intention to enter in the army and become successful. After some minutes, he had finished his speech and it wasn't a surprise that he was feeling kind of tense, considering that he didn't know how they would react and that he could have acted in childish or even rude manner.

"I see; you want to become successful in the army to save your village." The man said with even and thankful voice.

"Yes." Tatsumi replied firmly, showing them his determination in pursing his decision and earning what he would assume was a good impression by Aria's mother.

"But, you know…it may be peaceful inside the imperial capital, but this country is surrounded on three sides by different races. You could be brought over to the borders to fight against them." He continued, showing plainly to the young man in front of him the truth of the situation on the borders of their country. Still, Tatsumi already knew this and his answer came almost instantly.

"I'm prepared for that." Was his answer, even when he, Ieyasu and Sayo were preparing to leave their village, they were prepared to face such a situation, after all, even if their village wasn't that big or an important crossroad, they still weren't alien to the reality of some situations.

"I see, that's a commendable spirit. That's how the young should be." The man continued with a smile.

"Did you come from that village by yourself Tatsumi?" Aria asked, taking advantage of the fact that her father had just finished to speak.

"Actually, I didn't. I came here tighter with two of my friends, their names are Sayo and Ieyasu…" He said, while images of himself together with his two friends while leaving their home and saying their goodbyes to their chief.

"…When we left we were in high spirit, or kind like that. But after that we got attacked by night bandits and got speared…" He finished.

"Those guys are strong, so I'm not really worried. It's just that Ieyasu is tremendous with directions, so I don't know if he can get to the capital where we're supposed to meet." He finished, showing them the reason of his worries, which weren't linked to the survival of those two but to the fact that one of them wouldn't be able to get to their meeting place in time.

"I see." Aria's father exclaimed slamming his hand on the table in front of the armchair on which he was sitting, in this manner he was sure that he would gain the attention of the young man, who otherwise would most probably end up continuing to think about his friends.

"I'll recommend you to an acquaintance of mine in the army and also, I will investigate on those two as well." He declared, surprising Tatsumi and making his hopes rise, never he would have imaged that he would be so lucky to meet such a generous family and he didn't hesitate for a second to answer and accept the offer.

"THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" He yelled in joy.

"My intuition's was good. I think you'll see both of them soon." Aria said with a small smile. Although, even if the tone and the expression she used seemed to be in good faith, they hid a second meaning which was everything but not positive.

"Alright, why don't we leave it here for now." Aria's father said while getting up from where he was sitting. Still, before he could be completely up, Tatsumi talked.

"Umm…Is there anything I can help with while I'm here." It was true that he had accepted their help without a second thought, but his actual situation didn't let him much of a choice. Still, this didn't mean that he wouldn't repay them for their apparent kindness and if he could repay them in any manner, he would do it.

"Then be my bodyguard with the other too." Aria exclaimed cheerful with a clap of her hands.

"That's good. Gauri-kun, I'll let you handle it." The father of the girl said, but his voice seemed that of someone who had just solved something that he found kind of unpleasant and the expression of the guard didn't help much.

"Understood." This was his only reply and it came with a cold and almost menacing voice, as if that person had thrown part of his humanity and had become something more alike to a machine or a puppet.

Shortly after this, Aria and her family retired to their bedrooms, probably intending to have a good rest. Instead, Tatsumi was lead to his own room by the same guard that had done that reply some moments before and then, once the young man had reached his destination, he left, probably heading to his own room or to where he slept.

Once the brown haired boy entered in his own room, he laid down on his bed, but the sleep didn't come, his head focused on two things. The first one being his two friends, despite what he said to Aria's parents, he was worried about their well-being, sure they were more than capable to survive, but this didn't stop him. He just hoped they would be able to made to the capital safely. As for the second thing that was in his mind, it was the sword that the chief had handed them, no one in that place had asked him about it, almost if they didn't even notice it in the first place, or they simply ignored it. Still, he couldn't shake the fact that he had a strange feeling about it, he also avoided to mention it when he talked about when they left, which was something that surprised him, he didn't know why, but something in his mind had said 'don't trust them', when he was about to talk about such item. Yet instead of ignoring that feeling, he listened to it, why he didn't really know, an instinct, that was it. Still, soon enough the sleep started to gain ground and his eyes begun to close and he didn't really resist to it. The tiredness of the day was finally showing itself and he really needed to rest. Within second he was sleeping, only, it was a sleep without dreams.

"We're going to that shop next!" Aria cried out in joy with stars replacing her pupils, sign of her current emotional state and reason of why she was there.

"It seems we're staying home this time." The same guard that had lead Tatsumi to his room the previous night said, next to him stood said young man or rather, it would be more corrected to say that it was him in a state of utter shock and disbelief, never in his life, again, he would have expected to see someone buy so much things at once. This was really another world compared to his old village.

"Don't be too surprised today the amount of things she had brought is silly compared to her normal one. Still, it isn't just her, all girls are like that." The man said, not causing any particular reaction in the young one, his shock for the amount of thing already brought by Aria still evident on his face. Still what he said seemed to be more of a warning and probably meant: 'if you ever choose to be with a girl be aware of what you're getting into and be on guard for your purse'. Although, he didn't think that he would understand such message, neither he thought it would be useful.

"Is that so? The one I know pick what to wear right away." He replied with now a confused look, but at least it seemed like he had calmed down from his shock of before. However, as soon as these words left his mouth, an image of Sayo appeared next to him and protested with yells about the fact that she didn't have to wear anything.

"Anyway, look up…that's the centre of the capital." The guard said while doing what he had said to do to Tatsumi.

"THE PALACE…h-humongous…is that where the emperor who control the empire is?" Said young brown haired boy yelled at first but then his voice tone changed into a whisper that could be barely be heard. Still, his words caused a sudden flinch in the guard next to him, as if he had just touched a delicate subject and caused in him sudden nervousness.

"It's a little different from that. There's an emperor, but he's still a child. The one that controls the empire from the shadows is the prime minister. He's the main source of the empire's corruption." While he talked, every word sink deeper and deeper into Tastumi consciousness, slowly his mind was changing and understanding more and more of the place he was. That place wasn't the happy and peaceful world where he had been raised, no it was a shark's nest in which he had been lucky enough to find a safe place, or so he thought. He was then about to retort, when the guard stopped.

"Don't make any noise. Heads will be rolling if you're heard." The gurad added with a hand placed on Tatsumi's mouth, desiring to ensure the safety of both, but probably placing his first, not that someone could blame him for it; still, the fact that he had talked about such a delicate matter to someone he could consider as an almost perfect stranger, showed either that he still was human or that he was a fool…probably the last one.

"Then, the reason my village is suffering from heavy taxes…" The brown haired boy said with gritted teeth and clenched fists, his memories resurfacing and they weren't pleasant at all: his village was suffering, he knew it and he was there to help it. Still, knowing the fact that the source of the sufferance of his home was so near wasn't helping him at all.

"It's the capital's common sense. Still there are guys like that…" He continued with even voice while pointing to some posters attached to a wall to their side. Each of them had a different image of a different person, but all of them had one thing in common, under their names was another name and it was always the same 'night raid'.

"It's the group of assassin that's rattling the whole capital. Just as their name suggest, they conduct nocturnal assault on their targets. They mostly target high-ranking or wealthy individuals in the capital. It's better if you prepare yourself." He said with fear clear in him and just from seeing this reaction he knew that these 'nigh raid' members weren't to be underestimated.

"YES." He said with firmness, never he had backed from a fight, nor he would start now.

"Also…go, do something about that for now." The guard added pointing toward their other side, immediately Tatasumi turned his head to see what he meant and he immediately understood what he meant.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?" He yelled upon seeing Aria walking peacefully while whistling happily, two guards behind her were carrying an embarrassing amount of package and it did look extremely heavy.

The rest of the day went pretty well, form Tatsumi point. Once Aria had finished her shopping, which continued even after lunch, they finally returned to her mason and it already was evening, after than a quick break, which he used to recover from the fatigue that came from the fact that he had to help in bringing Aria's items to their destination and then after taking a bath, something he haven't done properly in a long time and even back in his village he never was able to have such luck to relax so much during a bath. Then he was invited to eat dinner together with Aria and her parents and he didn't comply. Then, after having satisfied his hunger, he went straight to the room that had been given to him and quickly fell asleep. Now it was night, the sun was long gone and the moon was about to reach its zenith and why any normal family would be asleep just like Tatsumi, none of the members of that family was.

"Now then, maybe I'll make a dairy entry today as well…" The lady of the house said while lightly giggling and keeping a small book in one of her hand, her eyes fixed on it, alight blush on her cheeks, while her mind thought of what was inside it.

"I really can't stop this hobby of mine…" She said, her eyes still on her diary, but then, she found herself split in two halves, even both her arm were cut, but the surprisingly thing was that the slash had been so quick that she didn't even had the chance to understand what happened before it occurred. She didn't feel any pain but then when she realized the events that transpired, her eyes widened in shock, blood oozed from her own body and covered the floor down her, then each cut piece fell deaf on the ground, life already gone from each limb and piece of her begin. However, before her consciousness faded completely, she had been able to see the face of her killer and even the weapon used to kill her. The last one begin a pair of gigantic scissors with their blade dirtied by her own blood. As for the other one, it was a young woman around mid-twenty with a slender figure, long purple hair that fell on her back. She was wearing a sleeveless lilac cheongsam that now had one side dirtied with blood and with detached arm sleeves of the same colour of her dress and white boots. Her face was lit only by the moonlight but that was enough to show the stain of blood on one of her cheek while on the other one was a small scar and she also wore a pair of glasses. The young woman then swung her scissors in the air and partially cleared them of the blood, then she walked toward the remains of the corpse with indifferent and blunt face before slightly bowing and saying an apology to the now dead woman.

However, even if her act had been completely silent, Tatsumi suddenly woke up the air heavy and filled with something that he didn't like for nothing and that he had never felt so strong.

'What is this blood-thirst!?' He thought, while his right hand shot toward his weapon. It was clear that what was happing wasn't good and if someone radiated such feeling, it meant that that someone was there to spill blood. Still, he suddenly stopped when he didn't felt the familiar yet firm but also soft feeling of his sword's handle. What he felt, instead, was something somehow firm, cold and that seemed to be wrapped in something. He then glanced at his hand and saw that his right hand was tightened on the handle of the item that the elder gave him, his sword lying next to his bed.

Confusion was what sprouted in his mind, but it was immediately pushed away when he felt again the blood-thirst that woke him up. Upon feeling it again, his hold on the handle of the weapon he had in his hand tightened. Still, he shook his head and after putting that weapon on his back he took his sword and flung out of his room and ran toward the source of the feeling that disturbed his sleep. His senses were fully active and his mind tried to gather every possible information that could clear his current situation. Then he remembered the talk that he had with one of Aria's guard that morning and an idea flashed in his mind.

"Don't tell me…" He muttered, but as soon as he came near to a window, he shot a quick glance toward it and then he saw them: a group of five people, each barely lit by the moonlight behind them and that were towering over the ground, standing up on some kind of strange wires. Still, his eyes allowed him to recognize some traits from each one. Three of the five were girls, one with two twin tails and dressed with a light coloured dress with a gown that reached her knees, another had long dark hair and wore a black dress while holding what looked like a katana in on hand, the last of the trio instead wore almost nothing, and for some reason he would swear of having seen that person somewhere else, but he didn't really remember, still, she had long light hair and didn't seem to have any weapon with her. The two remaining of the group were different form the rest of them: one was a boy with short hair and wearing a pair of strange glasses on his forehead and having a pair of gauntlets that looked almost like claws. As for the last one, it was much bigger than the other and his entire body was covered by an armor and had a long spear on his back with an extremely large blade on one of its ends.

"…Night Raid." He said in a mix of fear, frustration and anger. It looked like his luck didn't miss the spot even this time, only, he couldn't believe that those people were there to kill Aria's family, after all they didn't did anything wrong, or so he thought. He then continued to look out of the window, before glancing down on the garden where a group of guards was running to intercept the intruders.

'What should I do? Should I go assist them…or go to protect…' He didn't even have the time to finish his thought that one of the five assassins that were standing on those wires descended to face the new comers and then, in the blink of an eye two of the three guards were dead and the third had started to run to save his life, but he didn't have the chance to run away, before his head was pierced by a blast fired byt that girl with twin tails.

'In one moment…in one moment they were…annihilated…' He thought, now fear gripping his heart and almost taking control of his mind. Still, a part of him was enough lucid not to run away and then his emotional part did the rest.

'At least…at least…I have to protect Aria-san…' He wasn't stupid he knew that if he ever came to fight one of those guys, he would die before he could even react, but still, he hoped of begin able to protect the person that showed kindness toward someone like him that didn't have anything to offer to repay her.

"MY LADY OVER HERE HURRY!" A guard yelled, a rifle on his back ready to be used and one hand holding that of a certain rich and 'kind' girl. Both of them were in the garden that surrounded the main building of that residence, knowing that if they would have tried to remain there they would have died immediately.

"What's happening!?" She asked between a breath and another, she had been suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and then she had started to run as if her life depended on it, which was exactly what was happening, but she still, didn't completely understood the situation.

"JUST GO TO THE FAR OFF SHEDFOR NOW! IT'LL BE SAFE OVER THERE!" The man continued while not stopping to run, he was scared to his core, because he knew that if he and his lady would have to face Nigh Raid, they would both die and despite his fear a part of him still valued his work as body guard and that was the reason why he hadn't simply tried to escape from that place. Now they were practically in front of a large shed with its walls made of bricks and he hoped that they could be safe there, but his hopes weren't high.

"I FOUND YOU ARAI-SAN!" Someone called out and immediately the figure of Tasumi appeared out from of near foliage. Surprising both the other two.

"Tatsumi." Aria said in both surprise and somehow relief.

"You came just at the right moment! We'll run to the warehouse and wait for the guards to come! You stop the enemies for us in the meantime!" The man quickly said, finally they had a hope of survive to that infernal night.

"WHAAAT!? That's carzy…" He replied, but then someone landed behind him and when he looked to see who it was, he clenched his teeth in anger and frustration when he saw that it was none other than that girl that killed those two guards in less than an instant. Immediately he understood that he had nowhere to run and when he saw her dashing toward him with cold expression he understood that the only thing he could do was fight.

"Shit! I've got to go for it now!" He said while sheeting his sword and preparing to fight her until his last breath. Still what happened next, left him in a complete and utter state of shock and confusion. When she was right in front of him, she put one her foot on his shoulder and used it to launch herself over him and landed right behind the guards.

"FUCK…SHE'S COMING OVER HERE!" Said person yelled while taking his rifle in his hands and shoot at her, hoping to somehow stop her. But every bullet that was shot from his rifle simply missed the designed target and before he could finish the bullets she was right in front of him.

"Target eliminate." She said with cold and emotionless voice while using her sword to cut the man in two halves. His body fell on the ground and before anyone could realize, she was in front of Aria, who had fell on the ground and her katana was ready to go for her throat. Tears started to stream out of the young lady eyes while the assassin looked at her with eyes deprived of any form of humanity and emotion.

"Eliminate." She said, her was about to make its way to take the target's life, when she backed and dodged an attack from Tatsumi. He looked at her with eyes full of anger. He couldn't tolerate all that situation and even if he knew that throwing himself in a fight with someone who clearly was more powerful and skilful than him, he still couldn't tolerate to remain still and do nothing.

"You're not a target…there's no need to kill you." She called out once she was in a safe spot, but what shocked the young man was the complete change of character she had undergo in less than an instant. Before she had a cold and menacing glare and almost didn't look like a human, but rather a demon. Now instead she had an apathetic and emotionless face! As if she was somehow bored by what was happening…seriously how can a person be able to do this. Still, despite the words said by that girl, Tastumi seemed to be unfazed or rather ignored her reaction and continued to focus on what he thought was important.

"BUT YOU'RE PLANNING TO KILL THIS GIRL. RIGHT!?" He yelled in anger. If she wanted to kill Aria, then, first she would have had to face him in a fight.

"Uh uh…"

"WHAT!?" He asked, not understanding what that girl was thinking and what kind of process was taking place in her head.

"I'll kill you if you get in the way you know." She calmly stated, as if she didn't want to kill more than what she thought as necessary. Still, this didn't make the young man change his decision and instead he prepared his sword for the fight that would decide if he would die or live.

"LIKE I'D RUN BECAUSE OF THAT!" He called out showing his resolve in his decision and that he wouldn't run and leave a lady in danger.

"I see…Then I'll bury you." Suddenly the demon that scared him before reappeared and again her eyes turned into those of a killer without the slightest sign of compassion or empathy. Fear immediately surged in him, but still, he didn't run and instead prepared himself to fight until his last breath.

'She's not someone I can currently beat…' He thought while not moving his eyes from her, every fiber of his body felt like on the point of snapping, the tension was high and he knew his thought showed that he was able to judge the situation correctly.

'But…I can't worry about that…' He continued none of the two was going to make a move, each one studying their opponent and trying to understand and predict each other moves and then act in response. Still the girl was far over that point, the only reason why she hadn't already attacked was because she never underestimated her opponents and she wouldn't start now. Still, she had already understood that her opponent wasn't as experienced as her and that with her weapon and ability, it wouldn't be hard to kill the obstacle that was between her and the target. However, there was something about that boy that caused all her senses to be on guard and all of them were telling them of an imminent danger as if she was facing some kind of monster she had never seen. Still, she was able to hide her thoughts behind her usual mask, if not, her opponent would have most likely take advantage of her state to win.

'Besides, there's no way that a guy who can't save a single girl…can save a village!' Immediately both of them jumped at each other, swords ready to strike and their mind focused on the fight. As soon as they reached the other, their sword clashed violently, blade clashed against blade, but just from their first hit it was clear that the katana that was begin used by the night raider was stronger than the young boy sword. Still, the clash didn't last long and as soon as Tatsuimi was able to free his weapon, he went for a horizontal slash, aiming to her waist but as soon as the blade cut the place in which was his target, the only thing that was cut was the air. Instead the girl had jumped over his head and with a swift movement she brought herself on his left side, before delivering a kick to his arm, intending to debilitate such lib and creating the opportunity she needed to end the fight. As soon as Tatsumi lost his balance in consequence of the kick that was delivered to his arm, he saw that he left himself completely open on the front to any kind of attack and she didn't miss such opportunity. Before he could even realize it, he found her piercing his clothes with the tip of her katana and pushed it forward, intending to end him with a single hit. It was then that he felt it, the point of the blade at a few millimetres from his skin and then a single drop of blood cam dripping out from the wound caused by the katana. Immediately then he felt a stinging sensation in the exact point where the katana had hit and then everything started to fade, his body became heavy and seemed that his weight was raising every second more, then his vision started to fade and all his senses became numb. Suddenly then he felt his legs gave up and then his body fell deaf on the ground.

'What is happening…' He asked himself, his body was becoming number after each second, but still, he could feel his right hand letting his sword fall and then it slowly started to move toward his back. Still, he didn't mind about it and tried to figure out what was happening.

'Was that katana poisoned?... Am I dying…really…' He thought realizing how cruel and unfair that prospective was, his eyes slowly closing and his brain shutting down, a sad smile on his face. Still, his hand finally reached his back and precisely, it went to grip the handle of the sword that was resting there. Immediately his eyes shot open and he saw that the girl with the katana was still in front of him and was heading for Aria. Immediately, the grip around his new weapon tightened, seeing that she didn't seem to pay attention to him, he released the blade from the bandages that hid it from being seen, the black a blue of the blade reflecting the little light that was given by the moon. Immediately, the girl felt something on her side and caught something moving toward her. Upon seeing it, the time seemed to slow down, her eyes trying to figure out what it was, while her body reacted on its own and jumped in the air, before backing of a few meters from her previous position, successfully dodging the attack and putting a good distance between her and the new enemy, giving her the possibility to identify the new threat. However, she wasn't able to hid her surprise when she saw the same young body that she fought before standing ready to fight and with a sword she had never seen before. Still, she quickly put aside the surprise and focused again on the opponent, only this time the sensation he was giving was different: now the sensation of danger that she was feeling before was amplified and it was almost impossible to ignore it, even his expression was different, being cold and not letting anything transpire from it.

On the other hand, Tastumi also noticed that he was feeling different than before. All his senses seemed to have undergo an evolution of some sort that made all of them sharper and allowing him to caught details of his surrounding that before he had missed. Still, he could still feel his body a bit sore, but it was nothing he couldn't bear and think about it later. So instead of focusing on how his body was complaining, he gave his full attention to his opponent, who was eyeing him carefully, probably waiting for another chance to strike him, only he wasn't giving her any. Moreover, if he had a bit of brain, he would have understood that she didn't need to go for a vital spot to end his life, the only thing she needed normally would be to land a single hit with her blade and then the curse it bears would do the rest. Still, she was sure that she had landed a hit on the new target but he was still alive, so she dismissed the thought of killing him with her katana's ability.

The two of them then gave each other one last glance before they both launched themselves against each other, sword ready to strike again, only, this time, things went different. For as much as Tatsumi could be dense sometimes, he wasn't a complete idiot and he knew that creating a situation of stall in the same manner as before would result in his demise, so, when they were both in front of each other, he dodged her vertical slash by backing away with two jumps. Still, she didn't let him go away and charged at him with her sword ready for a lunge aimed to his heart. However, as soon as she was about to let the attack go, he let a smirk appear on his face and then used his black sword to block her attack and then with his other free hand, he quickly recovered his original sword that was lying on the ground next to him and then, he tried to slash her with it. Still, she saw that coming and acted in response by backing away from him, before charging at him again and the she delivered a single kick on the blade that the elder gave them, she made him lose his balance for a single moment, but that was all she needed, eyeing his other hand, she quickly recovered from the previous attack and then delivered another kick on his other hand, causing him to lose his hold on one of the two swords and making him lose the focus of the fight by causing him pain. She then landed at short distance from him and then prepared her katana for a slash aimed to his torso.

"Hold up." Said a new voice while grabbing the dark haired girl by the back of the collar of the shirt she wore. At this point then, two things happened: first the expression on the dark haired girl changed from that of a cold and menacing assassin, to an apathetic one; the second one instead, was Tatsumi who suddenly felt his concentration broke and felt all his senses return to normal and then he felt the fatigue that came from the fight he just had to go through, but it wasn't nothing particular, only his breath was slightly more accelerated than before.

"What are you doing?" The one asked to the person that had stopped her. This one begin a young woman with long blonde hair, she wore almost nothing, only the necessary to cover her body sufficiently. Still the strangest part of her look were the cat ears on her head that were almost invisible because of her hair and the claw that replaced her hands, moreover, upon a more accurate look, she also had a feline like tail that came out from the base of her back.

"We still have time, right? I owe this lad a favour." She said casually and surprise, surprise, it seems like she had a bit of conscience. Also, as soon as Tastumi saw that woman, his brain started to work to remember where he had already seen her.

"I wanted to pay you back." She concluded while winking with one of her eyes. And it was then that he finally recognised her, that woman, she was the same one that he met yesterday and that robbed him of all his money, shock subsided with anger and then he finally spoke.

"YOU'RE THE BOOB…" In fact…

"Yep, the beautiful one-san from that time" She answered not letting him finish his sentence. Then something happened to her, as if someone had just pressed a switch, her mood changed from the carefree and 'cheerful' one that she showed when she appeared now and when he met her the first time, to a much more serious and cold one.

"Hey lad…you told us not to kill an innocent girl." She said with cold voice while looking at the shed in front of her and then starting to walk toward its large door. In the while Aria expression was quite different compared to her previous one: up till now she had been scared for the possibility of losing her life because of Night Riad's members, but when Tatsumi stopped that girl from killing her, she had hoped of begin able to survive to that night. However, now that that woman was walking toward that place, she couldn't help, but feel nervous and her fear immediately started to rise in herself, knowing what was inside that place and the reaction that wold follow once that door would be opened. Finally, she was right in front of the door: it was completely made of iron and locked with a padlock of the same size of a hand and made of the same metal as the door that blocked. The entire structure seemed to be extremely resistant and it would be almost impossible to open it without the key. Still, for that woman, all that she needed was a single powerful kick to destroy the door and open to the night's air the indoor of that place.

"But can you still say that after seeing this?" She coldly asked and then the young couldn't resist to see what she was talking about and when he saw it, the only thing he could do was stare at it in horror and disbelief. In front of him were dozens if not hundreds of corpses each positioned in groups on some kind of twisted torture tool and each one deformed in a different manner: some barely had some skin attached to their bones, other had limbs missing or were reduced to obscene caricatures of human body, other instead had been literally torn to pieces. Still all their faces were distorted into the most different expressions of sufferance and agony, while blood now dry was present on what remained of their bodies.

"Wh…what is this…" He asked with horror and shock clear on his face. Words were unable to describe what he was seeing and even if he would try, he was sure that everything he would say wouldn't be able to describe the horror that was that place.

"They lure unidentified people who came from the country with sweet words. Then they subject them to their hobby of torture and toy with them until they die. That's the true nature of those of this household." She called out, her back leaning her back against of the now opened door, her gaze perfectly calm and also cold, sign that seeing so much death didn't affect her much. Still, Tatsumi didn't pay attention neither to her neither to her words, his eyes scanning all the corpse in that place. He didn't know why, but he couldn't help from observing that work with horror and fear. His eyes continued to wander over all those dead body, until, they stopped on one in a particular, it didn't take more than a second to recognize that body and then his mouth moved on its own.

"S...Sayo…" He muttered, his eyes never leaving her tormented body: she missed one of her leg, the flower that she always had on her hair was completely ruined and her eyes were shadowed by her hair. All over her body were signs of cut, whiplash and numerous bruises and all of them had blood coming out of them.

"So there was someone you knew." The blonde said with the same voice as before. Her gaze somehow expressing pity for the situation of the young man. Still the fact that she was looking at him didn't mean that she wasn't aware of her surrounding, such as the fact that Aria was trying to take advantage of their distraction to get away from there, because she knew that if she remained there she would die. Still, when she was walking away, she felt someone grab the collar of her dress and block her. Then the next thing she felt were a pair of cold and menacing eyes, together with a big amount of killing intent that made her shiver in fear.

"You're not getting off the hook by running away, little lady." The feline woman called out while preventing her from leaving that place, each words that came out from her mouth dripped an amount of desire to kill that would scare every normal person to their bones.

"The people of this house did this?" Tatsumi asked with dead and hollow voice, while his mouth was moving and letting out words, his mind was acknowledging the situation.

"That's right. The guards were keeping quiet so they were similarly guilty."

"It…IT A LIE. I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS A PLACE LIKE THIS! ARE YOU GOING to BELIVE ME TASTUMI, THE ONE WHO SAVED YOUR LIFE, OR THESE GUYS!?" She suddenly yelled, panic clear in her voice. To her this was her last chance to save her life, maybe Tatsumi would be able to save her; or so she thought, but the truth was that she was already dead and this last speech only confirmed this outcome, because, if she really wasn't guilty, then she wouldn't have had to say those words.

"Ta…Tatsumi…Tatsumi, right…it's me…" A voice muttered and upon hearing it, said young man turned his head to see its source, but what he saw was only another thing he would have never wanted to see: inside a cage to his side was his other friend.

"I…Ieyasu…" He said, new shock surging in him. His friend was still alive, yes, but his entire body was covered in strange greenish spots and had some bruises on various part of his body. Moreover, his eyes were in such condition that were hardly recognizable: his sclera weren't white anymore and were now slightly darker in colour and his capillaries were visible in the corner of his pupils. Still, what caught his attention were the tears that streamed down his face, his gritted teeth and the fury that was showed through his expression.

"That girl invited me and Sayo and after we ate, we lost consciousness and when we woke up we were here…" He said, tears never stopping and a murderous look appearing on his face.

"Th…that girl…she tortured Sayo to DEATH!" He almost yelled, but it was clear that in his actual condition, even speaking was hard for him, let alone yell and that was made painfully clear when he suddenly collapsed on the ground and started to cough, his body becoming weaker after each second.

"What's so wrong…" Aria suddenly spoke, now she knew that her 'secret' was no more, so at least she would have made clear what really happened. With a single movement, she then free her arm from the grip of blonde woman, but it was more like she had allowed it. Then she looked at the lone figure of Tatsumi, who was standing still on the same position as before, his mind apparently in a state of trance but the truth was that his rage was growing and growing and soon he would let it all go.

"YOU'RE JUST WORTHLESS HICKS FROM COUNTRY, RIGHT!? THE SAME AS CATTLE! I SHOULD BE FREE TO TREAT ALL OF YOU HOWEVER I WANT!" Aria yelled, her face completely twisted into one that showed her craziness and how wicked she really was. Still she was so absorbed in her own speech that she didn't notice that after each of her word, Tatsumi's grip on the sword was increasing its strength, his fury reaching its apex. But while his rage was growing, the sword that he received when they were leaving their village, had started to change, the scales on the blade turning from light blue to red while the blade started to pulse, almost reacting to its wielder's emotions. Then something more occurred, Tatsumi shot one single glance toward Aria, hate, rage and disgust all present in his eyes, but one of them had changed, turning from the usual green to one with a black slit pupil and blue in colour.

This caused the young lady to stop to speak and to take a step back, in front of her she didn't saw the young man that she 'saved' from the road so that she could play with him and then torture him like his friends. No, in front of her was a monster that exuded an unimaginable rage and that made her fear reach new heights. She was then about to run away from that creature, too scared to even remain there and Akame was ready to kill her before she had such opportunity, but before either of the two could do anything, Tatsumi vanished from where he was standing and reappeared in front of Aria, together with large amount of blood coming out from the young lady's body, his sword still in mid-air and the blade stained with her blood. It was clear that it was him, the one who killed her was the young man and this surprised the blonde, but left her companion unimpressed. Still, there was one thing that left her surprised, how he managed to cut the distance between him and their target without that none of them noticed it. Moreover, in the short time that he shot that glance toward that girl and then disappeared from where he was, she had felt that same sensation of danger of before, only much stronger.

"Hehe…that's Tatsumi for you…that felt great…" Ieyasu said with relief and satisfaction once he saw the body of that cruel person that caused so much sufferance to Sayo. Then, he suddenly started to chough again, only this time when he did it, from his mouth came out a great amount of blood, then he collapsed on the floor, his body slowly giving up and nearing to eternal sleep.

"What's wrong Ieyasu!?" This fact, caught Tatsumi's full attention, who immediately rushed to his friend, his eyes now normal again, his original sword still lying on the ground, while the other was in its sheath on his back, its colour returned to their normal state and even the sensation of danger that the dark haired girl was feeling up till a moment ago was almost gone. Once they were in front of his cage, the blonde woman was enough kind to bend the bars up to the point that the young brown haired man could easily bring his friend's body out of there and then he put him on the ground with his head resting on his legs, worry and fear present on Tatsumi's face. He didn't know what was happening to his friend and he couldn't even help him, frustrated and angry with himself, he couldn't do anything but look at him.

"It's the last stage of lubora disease. The mistress here enjoyed putting people on drugs and writing how they were doing in a diary." The girl with the katana said, making the boy look at her, not having never heard of such a disease, but it wasn't something good, that was for sure. Still, he only hoped that he could cure this. As if reading his mind, the same girl of before spoke again voicing what was the destiny of Tatsumi's friend.

"He can't be saved anymore." Upon hearing this, the young man remained shocked and his face showed clearly his state. Grief grew inside him, he couldn't believe that after all that happened, he would lose his other friend too.

"Tatsumi…" Ieyasu managed to say, his breath chaotic and his voice weak.

"You know…Sayin…she didn't submit to that fucking girl…even to the very end…it was so cool…so for my death…this Ieyasu here will also…keep it real…" And then his heart stopped. A smile on his face and the will of not surrendering to his tortures, this were the last things that he left before dying.

"He was already in a state where he was hanging on by willpower alone…" The girl with black hair said, understanding Tatsumi's condition and what he was feeling, after all, the loss of someone a friend wasn't new to her and despite her cold façade, she still had a heart.

"Let's go." She called out while proceeding to leave that place, they had completed their mission and they didn't have any reason to remain there.

"Hey, why don't we bring that lad back with us?" The other female asked, earning a questioning grunt from her companion, together with her apathetic face and gaze.

"Our hideout, is always short-handed. Beside, don't you think he has guts, luck and some skill." She said while grabbing the young man by the collar of his clothes and then started to drag him while he had his butt on the ground and was struggling to break free.

"LET ME GO! I HAVE TO DIG THE GRAVES FOR IEYASU AND SAYO!" He protested while not stopping his attempt to break free and, once again, showing just how dense and 'naïve', he could be when it comes to use the brain to consider situations.

"Ah! I'll bring their bodies to the hideout later, so don't worry." The feline woman casually declared while not letting him go and continuing to drag him.

"WHAAAAAATT!?" He yelled in protest and insisting with trying to break free from her steel grip and she wasn't letting him go for a good reason. When him and Akame were fighting each other, she had seen how he fought and how he was able to resist to her assault, moreover, when Akame landed that hit on him, she was sure that he would die, after all her katana wasn't a normal weapon and it only needed to land a hit, no matter how small, and the target would die within seconds. But still, for some reason the hit hadn't landed correctly and so he survived. Moreover, that sword, it was obvious not a normal weapon, but there was something really off about it, but she couldn't understand it and she hoped that their boss would be able to answer this question.

 **Ok soooo…what do you think of this? I advise you, I already planned some chapters of this story, so it's not like: if this story won't have success, then it will be deleted. Also I want to say two things, but be careful, don't read this part if you don't want to have spoilers of any kind about this story, for all the other, which means everyone, here are what I wanted to say: don't expect a story in which no one dies, because personally, I understand the desire to keep all the characters alive, but I have to say that by making this, the story will lose a lot, so expect deaths on all sides. Also, as you may have already figured out, but I will say it clearly, Tatsumi in this story won't use Incursio, but don't worry the 'teigu' he will use won't be weaker than the canon one and considering how I'm planning to make the story evolve, it probably will be stronger. So that's all I wanted to say, see you next time.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here we go, finally I finished this chapter, really, it was more stressful than what I imaged, well at least it helped me to relax. Still, I cannot wait to write chapter 5. Ops, spoiler, well now the omelette is done and to add irony, today (or to be correct yesterday, considering that I'm writing this at the 00:30 of the following day) I ate an omelette of vegetables and it was really delicious…However, returning to the matter at hand, I hope you'll like this chapter but just to make you know, this and the next two ones will be chapters of connection, but starting from the fifth, as I anticipated, things will get more interesting and SPILER, read at your own risk, the true nature of Tatsumi's teigu will be revealed. Also I advise you that maybe I will change both the summary and the title of this story. So, good reading.**

 **-Same choice, different fight-**

"WE THREE SWEAR THAT WHEN WE DIE, WE DIE TOGHETER!" Sayo yelled with excitement and her arm raised in the air.

"YEAH, WE'RE GONNA GET SUCCESFUL IN THE CAPITAL AND EARN MONEY!" Ieyasu encouraged with as much excitement as his friend.

"WE'RE GONNA SAVE OUR POOR HOMETOWN!" Tatsumi finished, doing the same motion as Sayo and not missing the hope and joy that his two friends shared.

…

"…and we eve said stuff like that." The last loving member of the trio of friends muttered with sadness. The loss of his two friends still fresh and vivid in his mind: their expression when on their faces, the inhuman conditions in which he found them and the cruelty that had been perpetrated on them. All this was imprinted in his mind like he was still seeing all these things.

They left their hometown with hope, excitement and joy, desiring to see the world and save their home, but none of them had an idea of what horrible place is the world outside their village, that there are monsters more merciless than the cruellest danger beast, humans. But if someone would have said that to him before all this happened, he would have probably ignored them or not believed to their words. And the result of their naivety was right in front of him: Sayo and Ieyasu, dead. Their bodies buried in the ground of a plateau with small clearings and surrounded by forests, he had used some stone to create the upper part of their tombs, not the greatest graves that he had seen, but he couldn't do better and if someone would have asked him, he would have preferred to have his two friends back rather than having two graves that would match those of the richest kings.

"It's…just me now…" He said, but his voice was nothing but hollow, the sadness and regret overcoming all his other emotions and a light wind started to blow and shake fronds around where he was. His eyes were looking at the two graves and his mind remembering all the moments he had spent with both of them. Only, there was one little problem…and that problem was the barely clothed mass that was resting on top of his head, and the fact that he didn't notice it, or rather it would be more correct to say 'them'.

…

"WHOOOOOA!? WHAT'RE YOU DOING YOU DOING ALL OF SUDDEN!?" He yelled, finally reacting to his surroundings. Seriously, even if he still had the sword that saved him during that night's fight, which was currently in its sheath on his back, against that dark haired girl, he would still have died if that someone that used him as support would have wanted to kill him.

"Don't keep sulking forever. It's been three days since then. Have you made your decision to become a part of Night Raid?" The blonde woman, named Leone, something he had discovered during his staying to their hideout, that robbed him of all his hardly gained money during his first day in the capital spoke with the same casual and relaxed voice that she always used.

"LIKE I SAID, I…"

"I think you have talent for murder though. One-san guarantees it." She stopped him mid-sentence, probably because he was about to say no to her offer and clearly that wasn't the answer she wanted, turning such thing in something more similar to an order and make it more alluring, she used her sweetest voice and pushed his head against her breasts…Still…how could she say such thing and cause a relaxed atmosphere around! Moreover, the compliment she just said almost seemed as something completely normal! Well, maybe for an assassin it was?

However, it wasn't for Tatsumi, who remained surprised by her way of acting and a slight blush spread on his cheeks when he felt the soft sensation of two big pair of soft boobs being pressed against his head. Not that anyone could complain, except for those that preferred small breasts **(A/N…cough…no comment…cough…)** , or even say anything about his reaction, after all he was a teenager and his hormones were at their peaks. But, surprisingly, he didn't overreact to this and instead maintained a clam face, only altered by some embarrassment and indecision, which had both the same source.

"…I'm not wavering because of a lack of talent and such…it's just…" He spoke lowering his gaze toward the ground, not because he was embarrassed to look at Leone, but because he was somehow ashamed of his indecision, something he wasn't really accustomed to, since he had always been someone direct and that didn't have many doubts about what to do and when to act, but again, up till now he never had to deal with such kind of decision and they were very different from the one he had to take when he still lived in his village. This earning a smile of 'empathy', really, from Leone. Still, her cheerful and carefree nature kicked in again and so she tightened her grip around the brunette's head, pressing one of his cheek on one of her breasts.

"Well, at any rate, I'll show you around the hideout today." She declared while dragging him toward said location, which was a giant stone fortress with a huge tower like structure with hexagonal shape and Night Raid's symbol on it, that was located inside under a mountain in a cavern that seemed to have been created in artificial manner and not by the work of the nature. Also all around it there was a huge forest in which lived numerous danger beast that seemed to be quite dangerous.

"HEY, MY NECK!" The brunette protested, having his neck blocked in her grip and having a hard time in walking straight or even not to lose in balance.

"By the way, this mountain is located at 10 km north from the capital." She casually said, ignoring his last statement and continuing to drag him.

"Is that okay, leaving it so open!? Aren't you assassins for hire!?" He continued and, for once, making some sensed questions, but considering the distance between that place and the core of the empire's corruption, the fact that it was completely surrounded by nature and that all around there were numerous class of danger beasts, some of which were to be considered as high level ones, it could make sense the fact that they decided to leave their base in full view, still it could also be dangerous, but up till now, no one had discovered that place so for them wasn't a problem, yet.

So, after a few minutes, they reached their first destination, which was the meeting room. It was a large place with a rectangular structure with the longer walls made of stone while the one that was opposite to where Tatsumi entered in wooden with some slots, a large chair that almost looked like a throne and a banner with Nigth Raid's symbol over a red background. On both sides of the room were columns that supported the ceiling, this one begin made of wood with some slots as well, then on the centre of the place was a single table with four chairs, one of which was occupied by the same girl that killed Aria's mother during the night of their raid, three days ago. Currently she was wearing the same outfit of that night, only she missed the pair of giant scissor and the stain of blood on her, as for what she was doing, she was apparently reading a book, still, once they arrived, she stopped her activity to look at them.

"Huh, you haven't made your decision to join yet?" She asked, clearly referring to Tatsumi.

"Yeah, Schere. Shower him with some warm words for me." Leone asked, showing either her inability to convince people with words, not that it was a surprise, after all judging from her way of acting it was clear she preferred to use more 'concrete' methods, or her laziness. Probably both.

"In the first place, now that you know the location of our hideout, you'll be killed if you don't become one of us, you know?" And this is the perfect manner to convince people, by showing that they have no other option…well it was a way, but clearly not what Leone intended, maybe. However, the effect they had on the young man wasn't clearly one that suggested that he was now eager to join them, rather, he was more conscious of his current situation. Still, anyone with enough brain would have had understood that it was impossible to escape alive from a situation, unless you didn't join the side of those that 'gently invited' to their base and 'politely' asked to join their little group, which, by chance was one the most well-known and feared group of assassins in the capital of the empire…

Well, at least they made him an offer using words and not by threatening him with a cursed sword used by a girl trained to be an assassin since young age and with an appetite that surpassed every other one, a pair of giant cut-everything scissors in the hands of a clumsy girl that the only thing that is good at is to kill, wires sharper than a normal weapon wielded by a perverted boy that follow since his young age a certain ex-general or a railgun-sniper in the hand of an hysteric little girl. This not considering the fact that that place also housed a former soldier of the empire with a living armor that could adapt to almost everything and that had a SERIOUS problem with his taste about how to keep his hair and an outlaw that had always lived in the slumber of the capital, with a rather considerable problem with drinking and that could change into a half danger like lion beast and easily crush almost anything that she wanted.

"That's so warm…it's making me tear up…" He answered and just as he had said it, he was crying, not for happiness, but because he had now understood **(A/N 'SLAP' facepalm for how dense he is…)** that he had no choice.

"You should think it over carefully." She replied before returning to read her book and making the brunette wonder what kind of book it was, so he stretched a bit his neck, allowing his eyes to read its title, which was: '100 ways to fix airheadness'.

'So this is really a gathering of weirdoes after all.' He thought, now convinced of such thing more than ever. Still, he was abruptly brought out of his thoughts when he heard an extremely high voice attract his attention and that of the one who brought him there.

"HEEEY! WAIT A SECOND LEONE! WHY YOU'RE LETTING THAT GUY INTO THE HIDEOUT!?" The short pink haired, and hysteric, girl that was the sniper of the group yelled.

"Cause he's one of us." Leone replied calmly and without hesitation, while Tatsumi continued to eye the pink haired girl with eyes saying: 'here is another weird one…what kind of guys are these?' or something along the line.

"HE ISN'T ONE OF US YET; IS HE?! HE HASN'T GOT BOSS'S PERMISSION YET!" She screamed irritated by the casual way of acting shown by the young woman and also showing her disagree and dislike toward the 'new' member of their group.

Then without advising anyone, she shifted her attention from her assassin teammate to said guy and just from the way she looked at him, it was clear that she didn't like him in the slightest, for now. On the other hand, upon seeing her look at him, Tatsumi, looked away, preferring not to have to face her now. Then after a pair of moments, she turned her head with eyes closed and after letting a sigh of dissatisfaction, she expressed her opinion.

"Not qualified. It doesn't seem like he'll be able to work with professional like us. From looking at his face." She spoke, each word said with such tone of superiority that irritated the young man to no end and his emotional state was caused by the fact that he hated to begin underestimated, especially when his skill in fighting were involved. After all he was extremely proud of his ability and hearing someone insult him in such manner made him feel like that person was insulting his own mentor, a man that he respected with all himself and that he wouldn't let be bad-mouthed by other.

"WHAT WAS THAT PUNK!?" He replied with a thick mark on his forehead. Her comment clearly hitting the right spots to make him lose his temper.

"Don't worry about it. Mine's like that with everyone." Leone called out while already leaving for the next destination together with the brunette. This earning an 'humph' form the pink haired girl who tried to do the part of the superior person.

The next place that the blonde assasin decided to bring Tatsumi, was the training ground. This one begin a simply courtyard with a sinlge large wooden building the almost looked like some sort of dojo, probably it worked as both a storage and as an alternative place in which training. Still, the entire place had an air of eastern place, this due to how the walls that delimited it were made and by the kind of plant that were there.

"This is the stress release area or training ground, ass you prefer and over there is…" She explained, while they heard someone who was training right there and making quite the useless noise and it was toward the direction of this noise's source that Leone pointed with her hand.

"… the one wo reeks of sweat named Bulat." Upon seeing him, the first reaction of Tatsumi was of complete disbelief, in the direction that the blonde had gestured him to look at was a tall muscular man wearing only a pair of dark trousers and that was busy slashing what he assumed was a training dummy at such speed that he could barely follow his movements or even distinguish what stood over his figure. Still, he could see the weapon he was using and his amazement became even more when he noticed that he was using a spear.

"Phewwww…Ah, it's Leone and that boy is…" He said once he stopped and looked at their direction, this, allowing the brunette to notice something particular about this man, something that he had failed to notice before because of his amazement for the skill he was showing in handling his weapon and that thing were: his hair! Or to more precise, his hairstyle! They were black in colour, and until here nothing strange, only…he kept them so that they formed a heart-shaped pompadour! Really!?

"…the dude from before." He finished his sentence while looking at Tatsumi, the spear he was using still in his hand only it was now planted om the ground.

"How do you know me?" The younger of the two asked, being sure of never having seen before this guy, so how did it come that he knew him but he didn't?

"Hm, is this the first time seeing me like this? I'm the guy that was covered in armor the first time we met." He first asked a useless question! Then he explained who he was. Seriously, even if the brunette had been there for three days, he had never really got interest in coming to know the member of this group of assassins, neither in visiting their hideout and this was his first time seeing them all, not considering the time in which he had been 'politely' invited for the first time to join them and even that time Bulat was clad in armor so…WHY DID HE ASKED IF THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME SEEING HIM WITHOUT ARMOR!?

However, upon hearing this, suddenly his memory of who he was flashed in his mind, of what he said that night and how a chill run down his spine, of the fact that it was him that brought for all their trip from the capital to here and of the strange itching he received from his sword when he was wearing that armor. It was similar to that he felt when he faced that earth dragon before he reached the capital, only much stronger, but still, he couldn't understand what it was. But he put those thought in the back of his mind, he had spent great part of the day after that night of three days ago to try to understand why that sword was acting so strange, but he was still at the same point of before and the only thing he had figured out was the fact that he didn't know anything of that weapon. Maybe he should return to the village and ask more about that sword, but considering his current situation, such thing wasn't currently his priority.

"It's Bulat. Nice to meet you." He spoke while presenting himself, something a bit useless, considering that Leone already did it for him, but still he did it and, at the same time, offering to the brunette a handshake, which he reluctantly accepted. This person was far too friendly with him, considering the treatment he received from the other assassins he had met, which were one the woman who robbed him of his money and always acted in cheerful manner, another was someone who, despite begin an assassin, had her head always in the clouds and finally a hysteric shorty, well, not the best people he had met so far.

"Be careful, this guy's a homo." Leone whispered in his hear and upon hearing it, his brain understood the reason of why he was acting. He didn't know why but that day was turning from bad to worse and the worst thing: he knew it wasn't finished yet.

"Hey, hey, he'd misunderstand, right?" Bulat replied and when he looked at him it was like flowers had suddenly appeared out of thin air around him, confirming what the blonde had just said and causing his face to twist into one of someone who felt as if he was already dead or wanted it.

Sooo, next destination. This one begin unexpected from his point of view. They were currently walking through bushes near a hot spring that had made by nature itself, this one having rock walls all around it and begin completely surrounded by vegetation, while the area near the water was completely made of rock and clear of any kind of vegetation. He was wondering why they were there and was about to ask, when he heard some of the bushes near them moving and it wasn't them the one who did it. Still they soon saw who did it and it turned out to be a boy of the same age as Tatsumi with shoulder-length green hair, green eyes and red goggles on his head. His attire was composed by a long green jacket with a fur-trimmed hood over a white shirt with a stain like decoration near his belt and darker in colour and blue jeans with brown shoes. Still, his most striking feature, at the moment, were his eyes and mouth, which were more similar to some kind of crazed beast in heat that the only thing that want is to mate or similar, in synthesis, it was the perfect facial expression of a pervert **(A/N** **Issei, is that you?)** and what he heard him say, only confirmed such statement.

"It's almost Leon's bathing time. I won't think twice about the danger if it's to see those breasts." Seems like, those thing really attract much attention. First Ttasumi, which had caused him more problems than other, and now even this one, who now could be classified as a perfect pervert.

"Then how about I break two fingers?" Said blonde stated, coming out from a bushes from behind him **(A/N I hate me for this…)** and the following thing that happened was the green haired teen to let out a scream of pure terror that would have certainly woke up any sleeping beast in the vicinity and that perfectly described his situation, he was fucked. Suddenly then Leone grabbed one of his arm and used it to push him to the ground, blocking all his movements and forcing him to remain still on the ground.

"You never learn Lubbock." She, almost, stated sadly while not changing her position and using one of her foot to make sure that he didn't escape.

"FUCK, IF IT'S TWO FINGERS I CAN STILL GO ON!" Really, is he really so stupid? Even if you can still go on at least don't say it aloud. Why? Well, Leone next words explained how stupid his act was.

"Then next is one arm." Once she made sure to restrain him from moving further, not that he could before, she turned her head to Tatsumi and her previous expression of delusion was, again, replaced by her usual and more cheerful one.

"…and so, this idiot is Lubbock. Next is…" She said before assuming a thinking pose but not letting the green haired assassin go. At this point Tatsumi already thought that he had reached the bottom and was starting to wonder how was possible that these people were able to instil terror in the heart of the capital's people.

"…maybe at the riverbed." She finished and just as she said it, both of them started to walk toward said direction, more like Leone guided Tatsumi there, since he didn't know the geography of that place well enough, not that he had never been a genius in such subject. The river itself wasn't exactly near their position and once they arrived Tatsumi was kind of tired. All around him were trees so thick in some point that it would have been quite difficult to walk there, moreover, the banks of the river were made of small pebbles, while in some other point where rocks of various size. All in all, the place could seem beautiful and even peaceful.

"I've kind of had enough already…" He said, by now he wasn't even walking properly but more like dragging his own feet on the ground. Moreover, he didn't wish to know another wired one, he already had enough, but for who know why, he still was following that blonde, maybe it was because he was bored and didn't know what to do, maybe it was because he wished to join them or for some other reason that his subconscious hid from him. This causing Leone to laugh lightly at his statement.

"Ahahahah. Come on. It's a pretty girl next, so look forward to it. See. The one over there is Akame, isn't she cute." She spoke and then pointed right in front of her. Then, forcing himself, he rised his head from looking at the ground and then looked at the direction she pointed to. However, what jumped to Tatsumi's eyes wasn't the figure of a girl, but that of what he assumed was her meal. Such meal was an animal that was begin slowly cooked on a fire while begin pierced from head to…butt? By a wooden stick, so that it could stay over the fire and not being burned, the classic camping meat meal. There was just one little thing that was off: the fact that the meal was none other than giant dark coloured bird-looking monster with its beak full of razor teeth that would surely be able to easily cut anything and that showed clearly what its diet was based on.

"Is that an eveilbird she's eating!? Did she kill it by herself?" He questioned, eyeing both the girl and her meal with shock and it was well motivated, since that bird was a super-high grade risk danger beast that could easily wipe out an entire village by itself.

"Akame may look like that, but don't be fooled by it. She grew up in the wild." Leone answered his question and by her expression she seemed completely at ease and relaxed, as if what was occurring in front of her was normal routine and Tatsumi was starting to think so, still, even after all the weirdos he saw there that day, this last one really hit the spot.

"You should eat too Leone." Akame said while tossing a piece of meat that was of the same size as a chicken's legs to said woman. Then she took another piece of the same size as the one she had just gave to her friend and looked with blank look to Tatsumi, causing the latter to sweet profusely in nervousness from her gaze.

"Did you become one of us?" She asked with apathetic voice and not moving her gaze from him.

"No." Was his blunt reply. He really couldn't understand this girl at all, even the other weren't 'normal' ones, but at least it was possible for him to identify what kind of person they were. But this girl was a complete different matter, he really couldn't figure out what she thought or how she reasoned at all and this was one of the reason of his nervousness.

"Then I still can't give you this meat." She answered, causing him to be even more confused about her mind set. Still, he didn't even ask for that meat and he didn't want it in the first place. However, there was one more thing that he failed to notice in being off and it was…THE FACT THAT THAT GIRL WAS PRACTICALLY EATING A DANGER BEAST THAT COULD EASLY SATISFY SIX OR EVN MORE PEOPLE!

"What a shame Tatsumi." Leone added though a bite and another to the piece of meat that Akame had given her.

'This girl even tried to kill me…I don't like her too much.' The brunette thought while eyeing said person that currently had her mouth completely stuffed with meat from her meal, but again: how could she eat all that by herself and be fine!

"But still, aren't you acting a bit extravagant today." The blonde called out while stopping her eating to look at her friend. Who didn't stop her activity nor she changed the blank look on her face.

"The boss is back." She answered still eying her friend and at the same time, not losing focus on eating her food.

It was then that the two new comers noticed that there was a fourth person there, who apparently had almost appeared out of thin air. She was a woman in her mid-twenties with short silver hair, her right eye was covered by a black leather eyepatch while the other was purple in colour. She was currently wearing a full black suit that also showed some of her cleavage; still something that caught Tatsumi's eyes was the fact that she was missing an arm, the right one to be precise and in its place she had a mechanical one covered by two plates of armor and that ended with an armored gauntlet. She also was currently holding a piece of meat of the same size as that of Leone with said arm.

"Yo." She casually replied with a small wave of her good arm while looking at the blonde.

"Boss! Welcome back boss, do you have any souvenir?" She cheered but her enthusiasm was destined to be short lived, because upon finished her greeting, said boss's expression darkened and even the mechanical arm started to somehow twitch, as if it was ready to be shot or something on the line. Even the next words that she uttered pointed out such thing.

"Putting that aside Leone, during the job of three days ago…it seems you went over the operation time, eh?" The question was more of a statement, considering that she already knew the answer and it was at this point that the assassin knew, she was screwed up a cold drop of sweet poured down from her cheek and her eyes widened in realization. For a moment she remained there frozen, her brain elaborating her situation and then, when it was time of her reaction it followed the most basic instinct of any living creature that was out in a corner: she started to run. Still, she wasn't able to escape from what her boss's lecture and to prove it, just as she had started to run from her, a mechanical hand grabbed her shoulder with steel grip. At this point her entire body froze and her brain went in panic mode, she already knew that that hand was attached to boss's armored arm and that at this point she wouldn't be able to escape. Then, she felt the hand slowly forcing her back while at the same time producing a screeching sound that added only more terror in the blonde. Slowly she was begin forced toward what she was running from and she couldn't do anything to stop it, her face then went pale and her eyes widened in fear.

"It's not good to enjoy fighting with a strong opponent too much. Do something to fix that habit of yours." She demanded with low voice, but her tone didn't hide the treat of what would have happened if she wouldn't have done something to satisfy her request.

"I GOT IT! SO STOP THAT SCREECHING SOUND!" She almost yelled in fear, that noise scaring her to the bones and making a chill run down to her spine continuously.

"By the way, who's that young boy?" She then asked ì, once her hand had returned to its right place and making Leone turn her head to look at her. The fear of before completely gone and her usual self quickly resurfaced.

"That's right boss. I recommended this talented guy." She spoke while placing one of her hand on his shoulder and earning an annoyed reaction from him.

"Stop doing that!" He replied, probably referring to her saying that she recommended ergo, assuming by default that he had joined them while he still haven't decided what to do.

"Does he show promise?"

"H does." Was the blonde woman answer, only the tone used to speak was much serious and darker than the previous one, as if someone had just active a switch of her character. Then Tatsumi was about to reply again, when both Leone and Akame decided not to give him the chance to talk.

"Well, anyway, give it a try."

"The wage is high too."

"Is this a part time job!?" He asked, not believing of how they were able to talk about their 'work' they made it almost look like a normal employment.

"Akame…gather everyone in the meeting room. I want to hear the results of the previous operation. In detail, including the young boy." The boss of Night Raid ordered, but she didn't really use a commanding voice or anything, but still, it was clear that it was a request that had to be accomplished, not that it was anything hard. So, after around twenty or so minutes later, the entire group of the assassins was gathered in said room, all of them staying in quiet silence either standing up or resting their back against the wall of the room, still they all formed a semicircle around Tatsumi, in front of him stood the silver haired woman sitting on the throne that he had seen before when he came there for the first time. Still, the air was quite tense, each one ready for anything and to act in response, even the brunette could feel how heavy the air was, his new weapon resting in its sheath on his back, ready to be drawn out and be used at the occurrence. Also, another thing that made his nervousness grown even more was the fact that he could feel it pulsing and he could clearly understand that it was directing its focus toward four definite persons. These one begin respectively: Lubbock, Leone, Akame and Bulat, but the pulse was for some strange reason stronger on the last one, as if saying that he was the biggest treat of them all.

"I see. I understand the situation. Tatsumi, would you like to join Night Raid?" The silver haired woman asked once the other members had finished their reports about their nocturnal raid to the house of the family that offered Tatsumi their hospitality but in reality they were doing it only to use him as toy for their own fun by torturing him to death. Also, Akame and Leone didn't forget to mention one important thing, which left the entire group of assassins surprised. But neither of them showed it and instead eyed the brunette more carefully. They had complete trust in each other and in what they said, so, if that boy was really that good in using a sword, that could also have meant the loss of one of them if they had to face it right now.

"I'm dead if I decline, right?" He replied with a small drop of sweat coming down his face. He was feeling like he was walking on a thin rope that could snap at any moment while begin over a bottomless abyss and here, each word he said could lead him to the death or prolong his life. Still, he wasn't accustomed to this kind of 'games' that are an essential part of the life, so he could only act in the way he always did, by begin himself.

"No, that's not going to happen. But we can't let you go back, so we'll have you work as a labourer in our workshop." She answered calmly and enough strangely, she wasn't faking that calmness, even after what Akame had said about her fight, she wasn't scared and rather even more interested in him and his weapon, although, she admitted that the new about their fight surprised her, but she knew that the world was big and you could never predict what would happen in the future.

"Even if you decline, you won't die. Given that, what is your choice?" She resumed then her 'job interview'. She thought that if he decided to join them, he would be a good new asset in their arsenal, especially now that they were so close to their goal of defeating the empire, yes there still were some obstacles that hindered them, such as were the empire strongest and her army, the assassination team that worked in shadow for the corrupted empire's government or even the newest of the empire's additions: the feared obsidian conqueror, called in this manner thanks to his quick career, which allowed him in around a year to be able to be allowed to act alone and under the direct lead of the emperor. Also, during the past few months, a new rumour has started to spread around, this one begin about a new and deadly and dangerous assassin that had gained the name of bane assassin, this due to the particular poison she often used to kill its target and for the fact that she brought ruin on those who had the bad luck of begin one of its target. But all these voices weren't certain, still she had to consider everything, so keeping an ear for any more info about this wasn't a bad thing.

"I…was planning to reach the capital, became successful and save my village from poverty…But even the capital is rotten." He replied after a little thinking, this was an important moment of his life, because now, his choice would change his life in a radical manner and he couldn't allow himself to make stupid choices.

"The countryside is poor and suffer because the centre is rotten." Bulat spoke, catching Tatsumi's attention. His previous nervousness almost completely gone, now he had more or less understood what kind of person was that young boy and it was obvious that he was a good soul that had had the bad luck of ending in a true inferno.

"Don't you want to uproot the source of such corruption? As a man." He finished with a small toothy grin, which made Tatsumi shiver. How he had managed to accomplish it was unknown to him but that man had just been able to turn a deadly serious situation in which he could literally feel the presence of death near him, in a terribly embarrassing situation. However, he got lucky enough that he didn't show it, this thanks to the fact that he could still feel the near danger of the death.

"Bulat was originally a skilled imperial soldier. But he learned of the empire's corruption and became one of us."

"After all our work is to eliminate the evildoers in the capital. It's much better than working under those rotten people." He expressed his own thoughts and his opinion for what had been his life for years, until he finally decided to change it and to change the system for which he worked for a good portion of his life.

"But, even if you just kill bad guys little by little, the world won't change greatly, will it? In the end places in remote regions like my village won't be saved by that." Two things: first, with this last speech he actually demonstrated of not begin a complete dumb and of begin able to make 2+2; second, did he really just said 'just kill', killing people such as Night Raid's target isn't easy for nothing, especially when they had skilled guards, the case of the family that welcomed Tatsumi three days ago, was a case of not important target. They didn't have any particular characteristic or political power, so their guards weren't that strong, this leading to the onslaught he saw first-hand during that night.

"I see, then Night Raid fits you even more perfectly." Najenda stated, deciding to make him aware of the truth behind their group's work and true goal.

"How come?" On the other hand, the young brunette, didn't understand what she meant when she said that their group fit him perfectly, yes he may have some skill, but they were nothing compared to those showed by the other assassins, also, he didn't understand why she said that he, a young man from the country with a serious problem with his own naivety could fit in their group.

"Far south of the capital, there's the hideout of an anti-imperial force, the revolutionary army." She started, making Tatsumi even more confused, never before he had heard of such people, but that wasn't a true surprise, back when he still lived in his village, he didn't even know the true cause of his home's sufferance or even of the capital's corruption.

"It started small, but as time progressed they had grown into a large-scale organization. Then, inevitably, a unit to handle covert jobs was created. That's us Night Raid." She continued, her eyes not hiding something feral about her and about something that she wanted, even her mechanical arm had its hand opened, but the fingers were in a position that they could close themselves at any moment, as if about to smash something that was resting right in her hand's palm.

"Right now we're exterminating the capital's ticks. But in the events that the army takes action, we'll take advantage of the confusion and we will take down the source of all this corruption, the prime minister!" She declared with hate, anger and disgust filling her voice, then her hand suddenly clenched as if to squash the heart of the person that was the cause of her current emotional state. Still, for how true her speech was, she had missed to specify a pair of other things, which were the fact that the empire had been corrupted long before the actual prime minister took his position, only, with him, the situation became worse and this lead to the current situation.

"Take down…the prime minister…?" Tatsumi replied in surprise and somehow shock. For how dense he could be, he wasn't a complete fool, mostly but not complete, and he had seen were their target lived: the emperor's palace, which was more similar to a true fortress than to a normal palace and he could only image how many guards were inside there.

"That's our goal. There are others, but I'll leave them for now. Although, I can't say anything specific about when they'll rise to action. But we've prepared a plan to win and when that time will come, this country will change for sure." Determination filled her eyes and her own expression didn't betray her words, she truly believed in what she was saying and intended to complete such mission to its fullest. However, all these new information, left the brunette without word; it wasn't like he couldn't figure out that all this was really happening, rather he would be surprised of the opposite, but still, the decision of joining Night Raid or decline their offer had just acquired a greater weight in his life, because if he ever accepted, he would be able to change this country. However, in his mind was still one last question that needed to be answered before he took his decision.

"Will the new country, treat people well?"

"Of course."

"I see…awesome…" no, please no.

"So the killing you're doing now is just targeting bad guys to clean out the trash." At this point even Najenda was surprised of what he was saying and, disappointed. Still he was…

"It's what they call assassins of justice, isn't it!" He practically yelled and AGAIN, showing of how naïve and restricted his vision of the world was. SERIOUSLY! Even after everything said and the bit of seriousness he had gained from the speech of before was completely obliterated from his idiocy. So it wasn't a surprise the reaction of all the people there who, after a futile attempt of trying to hide it, busted out into full and sound laugh, only three of the seven people, minus Tastumi, didn't exactly burst. The first one begin Sheele, who instead lightly giggled, probably due to the fact that she was an air head or because she had some politeness. The second was Bulat, who kind of expected this childish reaction, but nonetheless, he didn't found it ridiculous, but more like an attempt of his mind to make what they did, something that could sound heroic or at least that could make them look as some sort of good people, but that was far from the truth. The last person who didn't laugh was Akame, who simply remained there still, not moving of an inch or even reacting in any possible manner, her eyes fixed on Tatsumi and the sword on his back, but still she didn't laugh. Be it because of her self-control or because she still didn't let her guard down wasn't known. However, once the sound of laughs stopped, Leone spoke again, but her voice and expression were that of a true assassin dark and filled with nothing but the atrocity of the reality and the sensation that caused to Tatsumi just by looking at her face was the same of looking at a person that stood over a stack of corpse of which she was who killed them.

"No matter how you dress it up. What we're doing is murder." Her word seemed like blood flowing out of a wound to him and soon, even two other people joined the blonde and their expression and words were no different from that of who spoke before them.

"There's no justice in what we're doing." Sheele added, her expression strangely soft and almost caring if compared to the previous one, but still, it had almost the same effect.

"Every person here, could receive their retribution and die at any moment." Bulat added, knowing well that if he would have had to enter in what was their normal routine with such ideas, he would end up taking the wrong choices and probably die in no time. If he really would join them, then the first thing he would need to do would be to get rid of his naivety and see both the world and their actions for what they really were.

"Each person has his own reason for fighting, but they're all prepared. Will your opinion remain the same?" Najenda asked once more, desiring to be sure that if he would join them now, he would be prepared for everything.

"Will I get rewarded?"

"Yes. If you work properly you'll be able to save your hometown or thereabout."

"Then I'll do it. Let me into Night Raid! If it's a big goal like that, Sayo and Ieyasu would have done the same." This was his final decision, determination mixed with his own sense of justice were mixed in his voice, showing that he still haven't abandoned his own moral.

"You might become unable to return to your village though." Mine added, both not desiring that this 'bumpikin', like she would have defined him, joined them, but at the same time caring a little about the consequence that his decision would bring him in the future.

"That's fine, as long as everyone in the village can be happy through that." He answered back, his mind had already decided and he wasn't someone to back away and he was willingly to sacrifice himself for the sake of those he cared about. This making said pink haired girl snort in annoyance.

"It's decided then. Tatsumi, welcome to the path of carnage." The silver haired woman declared with darkness that seemed to ooze out from her own hand, which was now open and faced Tatsumi's front.

"Now that this is settled, Tatsumi, I would like to take a look to that sword of yours, can I?" She asked politely, the dark atmosphere of before suddenly disappearing and begin replaced with the same calm and almost relaxed one of before all this speech started. Upon hearing this, said brunette brought his hands to his sword and took it off from his back and holding it with both his hands in front of him. His eyes then wandered over it: the blade was hidden by the sheath, which had a very similar shape to the sharp part of the weapon, only, it wasn't divided into two on the tip and didn't even had those light blue scales. His eyes continued to wander over, contrasting thoughts surging in his head: on one side he didn't want to give it to the woman that was now his boss, as if that weapon was an important part of himself; on the other side, he knew that now that he was part of their group, he would have had to show them that he trusted them. This conflict continued for almost an entire minute, causing the air inside there to became filling with more tension after each passing second. But then, he let out a light sigh and handed the sword to the silver haired woman.

"Mmmh…it's lighter than what I expected." The woman said while scanning the weapon with her only one good eye. She then was about to unsheathe it to see what the blade looked like, but, just as her mechanical hand touched the hilt, something unexpected happened. A small wave of invisible energy burst out of the weapon, pushing back the woman but making her remain in her seat and then causing her to lose her grip on the sheath and making the weapon fall on the ground before Tatsumi's feet. This immediately caused everyone in the room to take a battle stance and glaring at both the sword and its wielder, who on the other hand was just as surprised as everyone other in that room for what just occurred.

"Ouch…it seems like it doesn't like me…" She said while readjusting her position and scratching the back of her head, point in which she had hit the back of her seat. She had taken worse hit and if someone would ask her to describe the one she just received, she would say that it was like a punch on the face. Upon hearing her words, everyone calmed down a bit, but still eyed the possible threat that said of having just joined them. On the other hand, said 'threat' was feeling the urge to take back the sword and place it on his back again, but the rational part of his mind was yelling him not to do so, fearing of the possible consequences that would occur if he would pick it.

"Don't worry everything's fine…but it seems like it really doesn't like me…" She spoke with a light chuckle at the end of the sentence and then all the other members seemed to finally relax. Still, the same couldn't be said for the brunette, he felt himself like he was about to snap like a rope too tight, a single drop of sweat came down from his cheek to signal his current status. For a brief moment the room fell silent but this state was suddenly interrupted by the noise of a metal wire that was begin unleashed, immediately everyone looked at the source of this sound and saw the figure of Lubbock looking alarmed at his gauntlet.

"ITRUDER NAJENDA-SAN" He then shouted, giving advising the entire group of what was the source of his nervousness.

"What are their numbers and location?" Said silver haired woman asked with a serious and stern look on her face.

"According to the reaction of my barrier, it's eight people. THEY'VE ALL INFILTRATED CLOSE TO THE HIDEOUT!" He answered, making everyone aware of the current situation they were in and immediately all of them looked at their boss awaiting for orders on what to do.

"They're good. To sniff out this place it means they're mercenaries not from here. There's no there's way…" She called out while taking out a cigarette and bringing it to her mouth and then taking out a lighter to light the item she had in her mouth, soon, smoke started to come out from it and then the pleasuring and relaxing sensation of smoking diffused in her throat and then in her lungs.

"It's an emergency sortie. Don't let any of them return alive." Once these words left her mouth, everyone's expressions changed, turning from their previous one to much darker ones that showed that the fact they were considered as skilled assassins wasn't for nothing. Their faces were merciless and almost didn't seem human at all. Even Tatsumi felt the sudden change in the atmosphere and found himself holding his sword once again, only he wasn't feeling intimidated by this sudden change and instead kept his composure.

"GO!" Upon hearing this order, all of the present members sprinted from their position to the exit, each one holding their own weapons. This left him a bit surprised and out of words, he didn't know what to do, nor what he was supposed to do. Still, the answer he wanted arrived suddenly in the form of a light, but heavy, mechanical punch on the back of his head from the boss of the group of assassins he now was part of.

"What're you spacing out for? It's your first battle. Go eliminate them." She declared with a feral grin that make him feel uneasy and without a second thought he followed the example of the other assassins and run to intercept the targets. Still, once he was out of the hideout, he didn't know where, these targets were, nor he was going to fight them alone in his current state, the show that the night raiders had showed him three days ago was more than enough to show him that his skill weren't anything special compared to theirs and he doubted that if he had to face an opponent with an equal amount of ability such as his new 'friends', he would be able to stand his ground against them and he didn't think that a miracle such as the one that saved his life during that night would occur a second time. SO he opted for what he considered as the most logical and rational choice: he followed one of the night raider that were looking for their targets.

"BULAT-SAN!" He yelled when he saw said former soldier. Although, it wasn't a case that he ended up meeting him, the pulse that he felt coming from his weapon before was still active, just weaker and despite the fact that such pulse was saying him to stay alert. He thought that since he had been the less cold amongst the assassins he had known today, he would be the best option if he wanted to improve his skill in fighting.

"Oh Tatsumi, do you want to come with me?" He asked without stopping to run with the young brunette following him on his right.

"Yes!"

"Also, call me aniki or handsome." He said in too confidential voice and if it wasn't for the adrenaline that was pumping in Tastumi's body, he would have had a chill run down his spine.

"OK ANIKI!"

"ALL RIGHT!"

"FEEL GREAT!"

"I'll show you something cool as a reward. Stand back a bit." He said stopping his run by planting his feet firmly on the ground and skidding a bit on the ground. Immediately Tatsumi did the same and stopped just in front of him, desiring to see what was this thing that he wanted to show him. Then he placed one of his hand on the ground with its palm open and then he yelled at the top of his lungs a name.

"INCURSIOOOOO!" Immediately behind him, a figure appeared out of nowhere: it was bigger than any human could be, but his form was anthropomorphic, although, the only visible part was his torso, head and arms, around his figure a pair of chains rotated continuously, his entire form was clad in in gray and white armor plate and had a white mantle on its back. The entire suit was identical to that he had seen Bulat wear during Night Raid's raid three night ago. Then suddenly the figure started to fuse with the man that he had decided to follow for this mission and seconds later, he found him wearing the same armor he had seen him wear during the night that they brought him to their hideout and holding in one hand a long spear with large dark red blade.

"WHOOOAA! AWESOME!" The brunette shouted in excitement, not noticing the fact that the pulse that was coming from his weapon had increased itself.

"Right, this tegu is Incursio."

"Teigu? I DON'T REALLY GET IT, BUT IT'S GETTING ME PUMPED UP!" He shouted again, his adrenaline and excitement now at its peak just because he had seen an armor that to him looked cool.

"SO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT'S SO GOOD ABOUT THIS!" He shouted back with practically the same voice as the young man that was in front of him.

"Alright, now I'll tell you your first job. It's important, alright?" He asked while pointing a finger toward him.

"Y…yeah." His expectations were high; he was expecting to be tasked with an important job of some sort in which he would have had to put all himself to accomplish it. But instead, within a few minutes later, he found himself hiding near some bushes with a pair of branches in both his hands while lying down with his belly on the ground, his eyes scanning his surroundings.

'A rabbit' He thought just as said animal passed in front of him, the word that aniki told him, still ringing in his head: he said that if the enemy would have run, they would have most probably come where he was and his job was either to slow them down or to kill them if possible.

"What a total newbie role…Is the enemy really gonna come?" He wondered aloud, already having got tired of waiting and wanted to do something more. But just as he said those words, from a bush near him suddenly came out a man wearing a pair of light coloured trousers, a scarf and his head was covered by a hood made with the head of a danger beast similar to a feline.

"SO THEY HAD STATIONED SOMEONE EVEN HERE!" He called out loudly. He had gone here in the hope of finding a safe route to escape from there and report what he had discovered, but it seems like his plan had been predicted and now he was forced to fight. Still, he was kind of surprised when he found that his opponent was only a boy, still, he wasn't someone to underestimate those he fought and these Night Raiders weren't to be taken lightly.

"I can't let you pass!" Tatsumi replied back while unsheathing his own weapon and preparing to fight. Still, while he did this, his mind started to think about the situation and he didn't like the fact that he would have had to kill someone he didn't hold anything against, but still, if he didn't do it, he would die there and now and that was something he wouldn't have had accepted.

"Even though you're a boy, I won't hold back." The man declared while preparing his own sword, which was more similar to a large machete with dark blade. At first, the brunette took a look at his opponent and understood that his opponent had the upper hand when it came to brute strength, on the other hand, he thought that the opposite could be said when it came to agility, so he decided to try his luck by testing this theory.

Immediately he charged at his opponent with his sword ready for a horizontal slash aimed to his torso. However, when he was enough close to him, he was about to deliver his attack, when he saw the man trying to slash him with a vertical hit and then dodged by backing and then, he remembered something important: he remembered of the time, he Ieyasu and Sayo trained together, of the techniques they created and improved of how much effort and fatigue they put on them and then he decided to use them to defeat this one. The first thing he did was trying to move on his side, probably wanting to ambush him on an uncovered point, then he sprinted toward it with his sword ready to strike. However, his opponent wasn't a fool and tried to slash him before he had the opportunity to strike. But the brunette had already predicted it, his senses again becoming sharper and being able to register more than before, he aimed dodged the enemy's attack and found himself face to face with his opponent. The masked man didn't have time to react to his sudden action and before he could do anything it was too late: with a single but well placed slash, Tatsumi generated a large wound that run from the man's right side to his left shoulder. It wasn't a fatal blow, but it was enough to make him lose his balance and fall on the ground at the mercy of the young man. In his mind flashed memories of his two dead friend and their training sessions, this turning the adrenaline of the fight into anger toward his opponent. However, once the man was at his mercy on the ground, his anger disappeared and even his senses returned to normal, this leaving him to reason normally. He then walked toward him and was about to kill him when the man spoke.

"I BEG YOU…LET ME GO! IF I DIE MY VILLAGE…" Immediately he stopped, his mind thinking about the man that was in front of him and somehow he saw a reflection of himself, then something strange happened: suddenly his senses again became sharper and then he saw the man holding tighter the hilt of his weapon, clear sign of what he was going to do.

"HAHAHAHA, YOU'RE NAÏVE YOUNG BOY! I'LL HAVE YOU DIE FOR MY CLAN!" The man called out with a feral grin and mad excitement in his voice, thinking that he had won the battle, but he couldn't be more wrong. With one hand holding his sword, he went for a horizontal slash aimed to his head, but when the blade was about to reach the flesh of the brunette, something suddenly intercepted his attack, his eyes failing to understand what had just happened and when he looked in front of him it was too late, the fact that his attack had been countered had left him completely wide open and this was the reason of his defeat. Tatsumi on the other hand didn't know how he managed to accomplish such movements but he could see the logic and the technique behind them: first he had used his sword to deflect his opponent's slash and created an opening, then without that his brain even could formulate his next action, he charged at the man and then without hesitation, he pierced his chest with his weapon. Blood oozed out of the wound on his blade, however, the scales that decorated the sword seemed to unfazed by it, keeping their bright blue colour. As for the new assassin, his eyes were shadowed by his hair and his mouth was still not saying or suggesting anything. However, this didn't match his thoughts, actually his mind was in a state of complete turmoil, his brain processing what had just occurred it also tried to understand what had just happened inside him. He couldn't understand how he had been able to deflect his opponent's attack, nor how he could have killed him so easily and still, everything felt so simple to him, as if it wasn't the first time he did it, yet it was and yet he was sure that it had been him to move his body, maybe he had received again that boost to his senses, but it had been him to make his body move, that was something he was sure of.

"Mission complete, we now can return to the hideout." A blank voice spoke, bringing Tatsumi back to reality, immediately he turned toward its source and saw Akame with her katana in her hand and the blade almost completely covered in blood that was slowly dripping on the ground.

"Ye-Yes…" He replied weakly his head aching and his thoughts confused, he then brought one hand to one of his eye, suddenly feeling a strange pain there, but it disappeared as soon as it came and unknown to him when this pain surged, a glint of blue passed in said eye. He shook lightly his head and then blinked his eyes a pair of times before he was sure that everything was fine.

Unknown to him, the black haired girl, watched him carefully, making sure of every and each of his movements. She had arrived there when the man tried to beg for his life. Useless to say, she already knew what would have happened next and was about to kill the target, but then, something blocked her and then the next thing she saw was how their new recruit managed to kill the man with two single moves, yet, what really surprised her was another thing and it was the fact that she felt again she same sensation of danger of three nights ago from him, only, it lasted for less than an instant this time and it was weaker, but still she felt it. Silence fell on the place and a strange tension started to build up in the air, causing Tatsumi to tense a little and feel uneasy, while Akame simply observed him and her surroundings, waiting for any possible threat.

"HYIAA! THE ENEMY CONE OVER HERE, RIGT!? LEAVE IT TO ME!" A certain armored assassin yelled and breaking the atmosphere of tension that was in that place. However, both his yelling and his affirmation were useless considering that the enemy that he was talking about was already dead and there was nothing more to do there. Moreover, judging from Akame's previous words, the man that Tatsumi killed was the last of the eight that had infiltrated their hideout.

"It's over already." The katana user said bluntly adopting her apathetic behaviour and making the tension disappear from the place.

"Huh…really, well good job Akame-chan!" Bulat replied with the same enthusiasm that he had when he talked about practically everything that didn't require him begin serious. However, this didn't make the black haired girl change her attitude and instead causing her to look at the brunette who seemed to have not noticed the third person that was there.

"It was him." She blankly spoke. Apathy and indifference coming out from her, still this didn't faze Bulat, but the fact that it hadn't been the female assassin to kill the target surprised him. It wasn't like he didn't trust Tatsumi's skill in fighting, but still, he thought that considering the type of character he is, he wouldn't have killed so easily someone he didn't even know. Still, the fact that he did it was a good thing, because this meant that it would be more easy for him to purse the path he had chosen. However, it didn't take him long to recover his enthusiasm and still wearing his Incursio armor he walked toward him.

"GOOD JOB TATSUMI!" He thundered with a loud smack on the young man's back, almost making him fall on the ground, snapping him back completely from his thoughts and making him lose the air in his lungs.

"T-Thanks aniki…" He replied hesitantly, his mind still confused about his action and of how he fought before.

"Very well, now shall we return." He asked glancing at Akame, only to find her already walking toward the hideout. Immediately he run after while calling Tastumi and telling him to follow them. He on the other hand wasn't really listening to what they were saying, but followed them. Still his mind wasn't paying too much attention to him and instead continued to think about what had occurred during his previous fight. He could remember clearly every single movement, every slash and every breath, but still, when he took the life of that man, he didn't felt anything, it was like he didn't have any emotion or feeling, the only thing he could clearly feel was his survival instinct and it was telling him to eliminate the danger that was the man he killed and he did it, yet, he didn't feel remorse, he didn't feel anything at all and this worried him. He didn't know why this happened but he was sure of one thing, all this started when he used for the first time that sword and again when he fought that man, he was using that weapon. However, he didn't know anything of that weapon, but every time he used it, it saved his life, the first time, when he was fighting Akame, he barely survived, the second when he was about to spare that masked man and he was about to kill him and this now that he thought about it was enough for now, so he topped his thoughts and focused again on the reality, he had made a choice and he would have had to face the consequences of it, he just hoped he wouldn't regret it.

 **Yes, I know, not the best of a chapter, but please give me time, I don't want the story to be a good one and I don't want to make things go too fast and give it a proper development, still, this also mean that it need time to develop and this forcing me to also write chapters of this kind that are needed to make everything work.**


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